It all seemed so calm on the ocean's surface, a pod of dolphins wove in between the migrating whales and four hundred meters beneath the cloudy blue sky was a clunky elevator that took you and your team onwards to your rescue operation.
The further you went, the more distressed the pods above you sounded. What had once been the playful yells between cohabitant species became non-stop screeching followed by their streamlined bodies slamming against the reinforced sides of the elevator shaft.
Everybody inside was thrown about like dice in a drunkard's cup, battered about while whales and dolphins howled and howled and as the lift touched base - they went silent and retreated. Somehow this made you all feel so much worse, like you'd passed the point of no return, ignoring their attempts to free you in the process.
At least now you could all focus on the mission at hand - locating the team who'd been researching a recently discovered deep sea fish that was still capable of breathing air. Dual function lungs in anything that lived four hundred meters deep seemed like an evolutionary oddity that held a lot of hope for improved lung capacity within humans.
Their reports showed nothing but potential until three weeks ago when their comm lines went dead and the facility's energy use dropped to absolute zero. At first the head facility thought that the cables had been damaged by sharks until they were reminded of the constant presence of dolphins and the fact that dolphins are both very territorial and very capable of killing sharks.
One by one their excuses and hypothesis were torn apart by their peers until the only option that remained was faulty structural integrity leading to a sudden collapse of the entire facility. That was when they finally put together a rescue team - your team.
It seemed simple at first, go down and see how much of the base is left, check for survivors and report back for further instructions. Upon seeing the entire facility not just intact but lit up like it was Diwali and they were all celebrating, you knew you'd have to go inside for answers.
And now that you were all in the main lobby of the base, you began to find the research team. Every one of them had their upper torso, or at least their heads, submerged in whatever they could find. Broken airlocks, overflowing basins - even buckets, not one of them looked like they were able to breathe air yet they were all still breathing.
The few that you managed to pry away from their water had all gouged their eyes out and their necks weren't just thicker, they now had deep ridged gills lining either side, gills that spasmed and jerked until the researcher was submerged once again.
The deeper you all went, the thinner the air seemed to become, the harsher the lights became.
None of you thought to wear your masks.
Gradually, the water looked more and more inviting.
The further you went, the more distressed the pods above you sounded. What had once been the playful yells between cohabitant species became non-stop screeching followed by their streamlined bodies slamming against the reinforced sides of the elevator shaft.
Everybody inside was thrown about like dice in a drunkard's cup, battered about while whales and dolphins howled and howled and as the lift touched base - they went silent and retreated. Somehow this made you all feel so much worse, like you'd passed the point of no return, ignoring their attempts to free you in the process.
At least now you could all focus on the mission at hand - locating the team who'd been researching a recently discovered deep sea fish that was still capable of breathing air. Dual function lungs in anything that lived four hundred meters deep seemed like an evolutionary oddity that held a lot of hope for improved lung capacity within humans.
Their reports showed nothing but potential until three weeks ago when their comm lines went dead and the facility's energy use dropped to absolute zero. At first the head facility thought that the cables had been damaged by sharks until they were reminded of the constant presence of dolphins and the fact that dolphins are both very territorial and very capable of killing sharks.
One by one their excuses and hypothesis were torn apart by their peers until the only option that remained was faulty structural integrity leading to a sudden collapse of the entire facility. That was when they finally put together a rescue team - your team.
It seemed simple at first, go down and see how much of the base is left, check for survivors and report back for further instructions. Upon seeing the entire facility not just intact but lit up like it was Diwali and they were all celebrating, you knew you'd have to go inside for answers.
And now that you were all in the main lobby of the base, you began to find the research team. Every one of them had their upper torso, or at least their heads, submerged in whatever they could find. Broken airlocks, overflowing basins - even buckets, not one of them looked like they were able to breathe air yet they were all still breathing.
The few that you managed to pry away from their water had all gouged their eyes out and their necks weren't just thicker, they now had deep ridged gills lining either side, gills that spasmed and jerked until the researcher was submerged once again.
The deeper you all went, the thinner the air seemed to become, the harsher the lights became.
None of you thought to wear your masks.
Gradually, the water looked more and more inviting.
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